Cave Refuge

Though these fish were somewhat larger than a hundred-pound Qing fish, they still belonged to ordinary fish species. Catching ordinary fish on land was a trivial matter for any able-bodied adult, excluding the elderly or disabled.

When Madeline gave the order to start fishing, the first two individuals drawn for the task, clutching their burlap sacks, were so excited that instead of walking out of the city gate, they leaped straight from the city wall to the outside.

Observing the two individuals joyfully running off, the others on the city wall were watching very attentively. Not only were they focused on the screen, but their bodies were also ready to provide rescue at any moment.

However, even after the first pair was sent out and each returned to the city wall with two full sacks of fish, the areas where the scattered fish had been left showed no change.

With the second batch, the third batch... until the last group of members poured their catch onto the ground, Madeline took eighty percent of the fish from the ground and the remaining fish were evenly distributed among the present members.

Don't think Madeline taking eighty percent of the fish was exploitation, causing resentment among the Guard Squad. On the contrary, no one in the Guard Squad thought Madeline was overreaching.

Madeline was different from the Officials before the Natural Disaster, who would embezzle a portion of the disaster relief grain issued by the Imperial Court for personal gain. It should be known that Madeline had been continually subsidizing the entire camp.

None of the people present were fools; they clearly understood that the camp's ability to function was entirely relying on Madeline's continuous subsidy. If Madeline suddenly stopped subsidizing, the camp wouldn't see corpses everywhere from starvation, but it would certainly make many realize the true value of every grain.

In the past, transporting all the caught fish could have been quite difficult. However, after Madeline's Companion Spiritual Treasure underwent evolutionary branching towards Bearing, Madeline naturally acquired a Storage space.

Because it was possible to choose the evolutionary branch of Bearing for the Companion Spiritual Treasure, Storage Equipment had become less rare in China after the disaster. Although not everyone had one yet, on average, one in every ten survivors had chosen the Bearing branch for their Companion Spiritual Treasure.

Don't think that a one in ten chance is low; that statistic was according to the total number of survivors with a Companion Spiritual Treasure, not those who had already chosen an evolutionary branch for their Companion Spiritual Treasures.

Not only did Madeline have a Storage space, but among the Guard Squad members patrolling the city wall, there were also survivors with Storage spaces. That's why, before leaving, Madeline reminded the Guard Squad members:

"Don't rush to eat these fish just yet; first store them in your Companion Spiritual Treasures. When I get back, I'll immediately take some out for testing to check whether the fish that didn't escape capture can be safely consumed."

Hearing Madeline's reminder, the Guard Squad members, who had been contemplating how to divide the fish, were suddenly taken aback. They only then remembered the origin of these fish, even though it had yet to be confirmed if there was any direct connection between the size of the fish and the tumor-like mass.

But all the Guard Squad members who had seen the tumor felt a wave of nausea when they thought that the fish they caught could have possibly consumed pieces of the tumor, especially when looking back at the large fish still thrashing vigorously on the ground.

The camp's exterior threat seemed resolved for now, but the situation inside the camp still caused some anxiety. Even though the water inside the camp had receded, the beasts that had infiltrated the camp looked strikingly similar to the black water snakes.

Even if the snakes inside the camp had not been as fortunate as the fish outside, fortunate enough to consume the exploded fragments of the tumor and hence grown enormously while also gaining Special Abilities, the situation was still dire.

But everyone knew that snakes, as amphibious creatures, didn't need special abilities to move freely around the camp after the floodwaters receded. In fact, the retreat of the water made it even easier for them to hide in obscure corners and nooks, often going unnoticed by people.

It's likely that, with some special exceptions, most people living in the vast majority of China's regions do not have the habit of cohabiting with snakes.

Therefore, after the water levels fell, how to locate and clear out the snakes hidden in the camp became the most pressing issue.

Since the ground was visible once more after the floodwaters had receded, Ye Liuyun was no longer concerned about the possibility of water snakes lurking in the murky depths and launching a surprise attack on him.

For this reason, compared to flying back with Dong Tianyu, Ye Liuyun preferred to return via the ground. Even though it was more time-consuming than flying back, only by walking the path himself could Ye Liuyun grasp the camp's most current and real situation.

Since Ye Liuyun wanted to walk back, Dong Tianyu didn't say much. Just as Dong Tianyu was preparing to accompany him on foot, Ye Liuyun suddenly spoke earnestly, "Zachary, let's split up on the way back. You do me a favor and scan the camp from the air to see if there are any areas with accidents or disturbances.

If there are, contact me, and I'll arrange for people to handle it as quickly as possible. Whether the camp can continue to function or not, once this whole thing is over, we'll go back and review our experience to see what score we could give ourselves on our handling of the matter, and to determine if we're really suited to manage this camp."

Upon hearing Ye Liuyun's reflection, Dong Tianyu not only lacked sympathy but also showed a look of utter disdain, then turned and walked away.

This was like a billionaire telling you, "I've now opened an ordinary noodle shop in some unknown alley. Although it's been losing money, not much, it has led the billionaire to doubt his own business abilities.

Then, in a rather piqued tone, he tells you that if the shop continues to lose money, he will simply close it to end the farce. But if it starts to turn a profit, even if it doesn't recoup all the initial investment, it would give him the motivation to keep supporting it."

Even though the invested funds wouldn't be considered a drop in the ocean for a billionaire, even a total failure resulting in a loss wouldn't be enough to cause him significant harm.

Indeed, those who have really succeeded, while they share their success stories with grandeur, claiming their decisions were made in desperation, the reality often is that, even had they failed, they still had the opportunity to start over.

Although "failure after failure" has a negative connotation, for those entrepreneurs who have a safety net, after numerous attempts and errors, they just need one stroke of luck to succeed, and their future becomes boundless.

This also means that with such strong confidence, they have countless opportunities to fail until they succeed. If they succeed even once, they are bound to become exemplars of success.

Ye Liuyun was in that very state at the moment. Despite his constant complaints about being poor, Dong Tianyu knew he had deep pockets. After all, Dong Tianyu understood Ye Liuyun well; he wasn't one to hoard valuable things for a long time in hopes of appreciation.

Instead, he preferred to keep his assets circulating, as even if he encountered minor losses in a transaction, continuous trading would naturally balance out the minor losses with substantial profitable trades.